4-14-19
I
needed to get back to Seattle early so I went out for a short hiking on
Tiger Mountain. I drove to High Point and started out at 7:52 am.
I headed up the High Point Trail and then onto the Linger
Trail. There were a number of trillium in bloom. Not a lot of
wildflowers yet but I saw several varieties. Yellow violets were seen
in a number of places. This trip is only 5 miles with 1200' of gain.
Detouring around Tradition Lake adds about another mile. Much of the
route is in very mossy forest. Many shades of green and deciduous trees
dripping moss. Pretty scenic for such a short trip. On the drive in I
saw that the upper half of Tiger was in clouds. I was not missing any
high up views.
I reached the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) and followed it all the way to the northern starting point. This route crosses 200' long Murat's Bridge and two more bridges. The second one has a bit of a twist in it now. One corner needs support. I passed the bottom of the K-3 trail without having seen a person on the trail so far. That changed. Soon I passes four groups totaling six hikers. That is a crowd for this trail. It looks like more folks are discovering it. I kept up a decent pace with quite a few photo stops. The overcast really brought out the colors in the mossy trees.
By the time I reached the end of the TMT I passes another half a dozen hikers and runners. It was still not much of a crowd. Instead of heading directly back I turned onto the Bus Trail and headed west. I passed the Around-The-Lake Trail turnoff and kept going straight. I went part of the way to the gas line and turned around. This extra bit brought my total mileage up to six miles. There were a few bleeding hearts in bloom along here. Back at the Bus junction I took the Around-The_Lake Trail. The viewpoint of Tradition Lake showed it was very full. It is getting marshy in the summer but looked like a real lake now.
I reached the parking lot to find it filled and for the first time I saw over a dozen cars parked along the side of the road near the lot. The short cut trail brought me back to the gate and the freeway frontage road. The road was packed. Cars lined both sides for most of the way back to my car. As many cars as I have ever seen at High Point. It is not losing its popularity. With all the cars my route was pretty quiet and uncrowded. I was back at my car at 10:48 am. I turned the key and... nothing. No starter motor engaging at all. So much for my early return to town.
Now a day later my car is still in Issaquah and the shop confirmed my thought. It is the alternator. That's the second time in seven years I had to be towed to the shop from a trailhead. High Point was a lot shorter drive than Denny Creek. On the positive side, it broke at one of the closest trailheads I drive to. It could have been ten miles down a logging road east of the mountains. Kim drove over to get me home. That you for that.
The day did not end the way I expected but the hike was fun. It did not rain and there were several patches of wildflowers. The colors were excellent, especially the greens. The car will be back running fine in a few days and I had a fun hike.
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Trips - 2019
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I reached the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) and followed it all the way to the northern starting point. This route crosses 200' long Murat's Bridge and two more bridges. The second one has a bit of a twist in it now. One corner needs support. I passed the bottom of the K-3 trail without having seen a person on the trail so far. That changed. Soon I passes four groups totaling six hikers. That is a crowd for this trail. It looks like more folks are discovering it. I kept up a decent pace with quite a few photo stops. The overcast really brought out the colors in the mossy trees.
By the time I reached the end of the TMT I passes another half a dozen hikers and runners. It was still not much of a crowd. Instead of heading directly back I turned onto the Bus Trail and headed west. I passed the Around-The-Lake Trail turnoff and kept going straight. I went part of the way to the gas line and turned around. This extra bit brought my total mileage up to six miles. There were a few bleeding hearts in bloom along here. Back at the Bus junction I took the Around-The_Lake Trail. The viewpoint of Tradition Lake showed it was very full. It is getting marshy in the summer but looked like a real lake now.
I reached the parking lot to find it filled and for the first time I saw over a dozen cars parked along the side of the road near the lot. The short cut trail brought me back to the gate and the freeway frontage road. The road was packed. Cars lined both sides for most of the way back to my car. As many cars as I have ever seen at High Point. It is not losing its popularity. With all the cars my route was pretty quiet and uncrowded. I was back at my car at 10:48 am. I turned the key and... nothing. No starter motor engaging at all. So much for my early return to town.
Now a day later my car is still in Issaquah and the shop confirmed my thought. It is the alternator. That's the second time in seven years I had to be towed to the shop from a trailhead. High Point was a lot shorter drive than Denny Creek. On the positive side, it broke at one of the closest trailheads I drive to. It could have been ten miles down a logging road east of the mountains. Kim drove over to get me home. That you for that.
The day did not end the way I expected but the hike was fun. It did not rain and there were several patches of wildflowers. The colors were excellent, especially the greens. The car will be back running fine in a few days and I had a fun hike.
 Blooming Trillium |
 A Lone Trillium |
 Mossy Log |
 Close Up Look |
 Lingering Trail |
 Cut Mossy Log |
 Yellow Violet |
 Not So Arched Arch |
 Murat's Bridge |
 Second Bridge |
 Twisted Bridge |
 Another Trillium |
 Log Border |
 Bright Colors |
 Hanging Moss |
 Tiger Mountain Trail |
 Mossy Twins |
 Bleeding Hearts |
 Dead Or Alive |
 Salmonberry |
 More Color |
 Tradition Lake |
Trips - 2019
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